RUTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT COUNCIL CONSTITUTION PART 1 – INTRODUCTION
Summary and Explanation
THE COUNCIL’S CONSTITUTION 1) Rutland County Council District Council adopted its constitution with effect from September 2001. The Constitution sets out how the Council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people. Some of these processes are required by the law, while others are a matter for the Council to choose. The Constitution is divided into 16 Articles which set out the basic rules governing the Council’s business. More detailed procedures and codes of practice are provided in separate rules and protocols at the end of the document.
What’s in the Constitution? 2) 3) Article 1 of the Constitution commits the Council to a series of principles for decision making on services and exercising community leadership. Articles 2 – 16 explain the rights of citizens and how the key parts of the Council operate. These are: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Members of the Council (Article 2). Citizens and the Council (Article 3). The Full Council meeting (Article 4). Chairing Meetings of the Council. (Article 5) Scrutiny Panels (Overview and scrutiny of decisions) (Article 6). The Cabinet (Article 7) Regulatory and other Committees in the Council. (Article 8). The Standards Committee (Article 9). Area Committees and Forums (Article 10). Joint Arrangements (Article 11). Officers (Article 12). Decision making (Article 13). Finance, contracts and legal matters (Article 14). Review and revision of the Constitution (Article 15). Suspension, interpretation and publication of the Constitution (Article 16). Schedule 1 – Description of the Executive Function
How the Council operates 4) The Council is composed of 26 councillors elected every four years. The next elections will be held in 2007. Councillors are democratically accountable to residents of their ward. The overriding duty of councillors is to the whole community, but they have a special duty to their constituents, including those who did not vote for them. Councillors have to agree to follow a code of conduct to ensure high standards in the way they undertake their duties. The Standards Committee trains and advises them on the code of conduct. All councillors meet together as the Council. Meetings of the Council are normally open to the public. Here councillors decide the Council’s overall policies and set the budget each
5)
6)
Version – Oct .05
PART 1 Page 1/1
RUTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT COUNCIL CONSTITUTION PART 1 – INTRODUCTION
year. The Council appoints the Leader of the Council and the six other members of the Cabinet together with the appointment of members of Council Committees and Overview and Scrutiny Committees, which are known as Scrutiny Panels in Rutland. The Council also plays a role in holding to account the Cabinet, Council Committees and Scrutiny Panels. Decisions made by Committees can be referred to the Council by two members (four members in the case of decisions made by the Development Control and Licensing Committee) and Scrutiny Panels can refer decisions of the Cabinet to the Council if they are not made in line with the Council's overall policies and/or budget. HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE 7) The Cabinet is the part of the Council which is responsible for most day-to-day decisions. There are some decisions, which by law, can only be made by the Council. Theses are set out in schedule at the end of Part Three of this Constitution. The Cabinet is made up of a Leader appointed by the Council and six councillors who are also appointed by the Council. When key decisions are to be discussed or made, these are published in the Cabinet's Forward Plan in so far as they can be anticipated. If these key decisions are to be discussed with Council Officers at a meeting of the Cabinet, the meeting will generally be open for the public to attend except where personal or confidential matters are being discussed. The Cabinet has to make decisions which are in line with the Council’s overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the Council as a whole to decide.
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY 8) There are four overview and scrutiny Committees, known locally as Scrutiny Panels who support the work of the Cabinet and the Council as a whole. They allow citizens to have a greater say in Council matters by holding public inquiries into matters of local concern. These lead to reports and recommendations which advise the Cabinet and the Council as a whole on its policies, budget and service delivery. Scrutiny Panels also monitor the decisions of the Cabinet. They can ‘call-in’ a decision which has been made by the Cabinet but not yet implemented. This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate. They may recommend that the Cabinet reconsider the decision. They may also be consulted by the Cabinet or the Council on forthcoming decisions and the development of policy.
The Council’s Staff 9) The Council has people working for it (called ‘officers’) to give advice, implement decisions and manage the day-to-day delivery of its services. Some officers have a specific duty to ensure that the Council acts within the law and uses its resources wisely. A code of practice governs the relationship between officers and members of the Council.
Citizens’ Rights 10) Citizens have a number of rights in their dealings with the Council. These are set out in more detail in Article 3. Some of these are legal rights, whilst others depend on the Council’s own processes. The local Citizens’ Advice Bureau can advise on individual’s legal rights.
Version – Oct .05
PART 1 Page 1/2
RUTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT COUNCIL CONSTITUTION PART 1 – INTRODUCTION
11) Where members of the public use specific council services, for example as a parent of a school pupil or as a council tenant, they have additional rights. These are not covered in this Constitution. Citizens have the right to: • • • • • • • • • • vote at local elections if they are registered; contact their local councillor and the Leader of the Council about any matters of concern to them; obtain a copy of the Constitution; attend meetings of the Council, its Committees and Scrutiny Panels except where, for example, personal or confidential matters are being discussed; petition to request a referendum on a mayoral form of executive; participate by submitting petitions, deputations and questions to Council, its Committees and Scrutiny Panels and may in some instances contribute to investigations by the Scrutiny Panels as co-opted members; find out, from the Cabinet’s Forward Plan, what key decisions are to be discussed by the Cabinet or decided by the Cabinet or officers, and when; attend meetings of the Cabinet where key decisions are being discussed or decided; see reports and background papers, and any record of decisions made by the Council and Cabinet; complain to the Council about something the Council has done, failed to do, or has done in a way that is considered unsatisfactory. A copy of the Complaint Procedure can be inspected at the Customer Services Centre at Catmose during normal working hours. A statement of intent and an incident form will be supplied free of charge upon request; complain to the Ombudsman if they think the Council has not followed its procedures properly. However, they should only do this after using the Council’s own Complaint Procedure; complain to the Council if they have evidence which they think shows that a councillor has acted improperly or inappropriately in carrying out his duties as an elected member, provided that the complaint is not one over which the Standards Board for England has jurisdiction; complain to the Standards Board for England if they have evidence which they think shows that a councillor has not followed the Council’s Code of Conduct; and inspect the Council’s accounts and make their views known to the external auditor.
• •
• • 12)
The Council welcomes participation by its citizens in its work. For further information on your rights as a citizen, please contact the Central Services Manager and Monitoring Officer or any Committee Administrator who will be able to advise you on the procedures for submitting petitions, questions and deputations to meetings of the Council, its Committees and Scrutiny Panels. Citizens have the right to inspect agendas and reports and attend meetings of the Council, its Committees, Scrutiny Panels and the Cabinet unless a matter is being discussed for which it is necessary to exclude the public and press. Agenda and reports can be inspected in the Customer Services Centre at Catmose on the day of publication required by the law and in some instances these documents may be made available at an earlier date. Copies of these documents will also be made available in all the Council's public libraries.
13)
Version – Oct .05
PART 1 Page 1/3